Vanderbilt takes care of Nevada in Nashville

Despite a bit of a rocky first half, the Vanderbilt Commodores defeated the Nevada Wolf Pack, 41-10 on Saturday to improve to 2-0 on the season.

After a scoreless first quarter, Vanderbilt quarterback Kyle Shurmur found Kalija Lipscomb for a two-yard touchdown to cap off a long drive early in the second. Vandy struck again just 54 seconds later. Kenny Hebert sacked Nevada quarterback Ty Gangi, forced a fumble, and recovered the fumble at the Nevada 7. Running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn punched it in to put the Commodores up 14-0 early in the second, as it looked like the rout was on.

However, Nevada answered with a field goal (which Vandy matched) and a touchdown going into the half to make the Vanderbilt lead just 17-10 at the break.

That would be all the scoring for the Wolf Pack, though. The Commodores tacked on a field goal on their first drive of the second half to extend the lead to 20-10, then Joejuan Williams intercepted a third down attempt by Gangi, and Vaughn capitalized on the turnover, yet again. This time, taking it 46 yards to the end zone on the first play of the drive. Vanderbilt’s defense stood tall again, forced a turnover on downs, and Shurmur found Lipscomb for his second touchdown of the day. Suddenly, Vanderbilt’s lead was 34-10.

They would tack on a touchdown in the fourth quarter after an Allan George interception gave them premium field position. Josh Crawford punched it in for a rushing touchdown.

Shurmur excelled once again, going 23-32 for 260 yards and two touchdowns. He has done a fine job doing what he has to do to make the team successful so far this season.

The Commodores also excelled on the defensive side of the ball. After recording six sacks last week, they had just two on Saturday, but, they forced three turnovers and the offense turned those into 21 points.

Vanderbilt will hit the road next week to face the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in South Bend.